Wrap-around car seal



NOV- 20, 1956 G. G. CANTER ET AL WRAP AROUND CAR SEAL Filed Aug. '7, 1955 r/f/ H62 H65 1N VEN TORS 67.1.5597' 6. CAA/TER GEORGE GA CAA/TER Arron/v5 Ys United States Patent O WRAP-AROUND CAR SEAL George G. Canter and Gilbert G. Canter, New York, N. Y.

Application August 7, 1953, Serial No. 372,878

2 Claims. (Cl. 292-315) r[his inveniton relates to seals of the metal strap type, generally referred to as car seals. p

The seal of the invention is of the type wherein one end of a strap is passed through a slot near the other end and bent along a score line so as to prevent withdrawal through the slot, thus locking the ends together to form a loop, unbending of the bent end resulting in the breaking off of said end to destroyl the seal.

' While retaining the basic simplicity and economy of this general type of snap-oit seal, the invention provides various improvements therein which will best be under stood from the following description of the present preferred embodiment thereof and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of a complete seal;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the head end of the seal, somewhat enlarged over Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a central sectional elevation of the head end;

Fig. 4 shows the first bend which locks the seal;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a completely locked seal;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective of the locked end of the seal showing the disintegration of the locking tongue which results from a reversal of the locking procedure, rendering the seal useless and making its unlocked condition clearly visible;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a modification; and

Fig. 8 is a plan of the Fig. 7 seal after the tongue has been inserted in the head and the first bend made.

Referring to the drawings, :the seal comprises a strap 10 having at one end a slotted head 11 and at the other end a locking tongue 12.

Head 11 is slightly wider than strap 10 so as to provide space for a transverse slot 14 wide enough to receive tongue 12. Preferably tongue 12 is narrower than strap 10 to provide a shouldered portion 15 which will not pass through slot 14. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, head 11 is reinforced by folding over the metal to provide a double thickness, through which slot 14 is punched in a manner to dish the metal of the head on one side of the slot so that tongue 12 may be inserted at an angle as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The hole 16 is provided merely for Stringing the seals to form bundles.

The designation of the shipper and serial number of the seal may be stamped in the usual manner (not shown) on strap 10.

Tongue 12 is preferably given a coating of a distinctive color on -at least one side as shown by stippling in Figs. l, 5 and 6 for a reason to be explained. The tongue is also scored transversely at intervals, the sections between score lines being designated a, b, c, d and e. These scores may be made by a die or other suitable tool, which may have a serrated edge, which reduces the thickness of and weakens Athe metal within carefully controlled limits so that it will remain intact after a single bend but will break if straightened out again. Preferably the score is 2,771,314 Patented Nov.` 20, 1956 made on that side of the metal which will be on the inside of the fold. Thus as seen in Fig. 1 score v is on the back of the tongue and scores w, x, y, z are on the front.

In use the operation of the seal is as follows: Strap 10 is passed through the part or parts to be sealed, for example the pin of a freight car door lock, tongue 12 is inserted through slot 14 until shoulder 15 abu-ts' head 11, and tongue 12 is then folded under itself on score v as shown in Fig. 4. It will be observed that score v is angularly disposed to throw the tongue upwardly toward the bent strap 10, as shown, with section a between the tongue and head 11. The next score w is -angularly disposed in the opposite direction so that section b can be bent around behind slot 14. Score x is more nearly at a right angle to the edge of the\tongue so that section c folds over the front of slot 14. Wrapping around is continued, section d overlying section b and section e overlying section c.

If the tongue is colored only on one side, as is preferred, the color is on that side which is outermost in the locked seal so it is visible. To facilitate inspection of seals the color is one which contrasts with the rest of the seal and to speed inspection at night by flashlight a light reflecting coating may be used.

Once the seal ends have been joined and the tongue bent as shown in Fig. 4 it is permanently locked because the tongue cannot be withdrawn from the slot without returning the tongue to the straight dotted line position. This is impossible because section a will break off a-t score v. It is not desirable to leave a seal in this condition, however, because the protruding tongue is liable to be caught and accidentally broken off which would disrupt the entire sealing system which requires seals to remain intact from point of shipment to destination. lt would not be desirable to shorten the tongue to prevent such accidents because the longer tongue is needed to facilitate threading and provide a length of metal which can be bent easily by the fingers. The invention therefore provides the desired length of tongue for a quick and easy installation and then disposes of the tongue by wrapping it around head 11. The scorings facilitate this wrapping in two ways. They provide natural bend lines so that wrapping is easy and they also determine the direction of bending so that the wrapped-around portion of the tongue lies above the first fold on the score v, leaving the essential part of the seal clearly visible for inspection, as shown in Fig. 5. The scorings have another function in providing evidence of tampering as well as deterring tampering. Anyone attempting to open the seal must first unwrap the tongue and as he does so he will discover that the tongue is breaking off in the successive pieces e, d, c, and b as shown in Fig. 6. No one of these pieces is long enough to bend back over head 11 to conceal what has been done. Nevertheless the seal is still locked so long as section a is in place.

This fact illustrates a possible alternative way of using the seal which might be suitable under some circumstances. The scores v and w alone may be provided, the first fold made as in Fig. 4 and the balance of the tongue then broken off on the score w which in this case might be made to lie parallel to an edge of the head 11. Obviously the number of the sections into which the tongue is divided by scores is a matter of choice.

The construction of the seal is such that at all times it can clearly be seen whether or not a seal has been removed and replaced. With the types of seals where one end is locked in an enclosure attached to the other end it is possible to reinsert in the enclosure an end which ha-s been pulled out and the inspector must pull on each seal to make sure it is still intact. With the present seal visual inspection is suticient.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a modification which differs from` the Seal of Figs. 1-6 in the shape of the head and the `arrangement of the scores on the tongue. The parts corresponding to the form above described bear the same reference numerals distinguished by being primed.

Head 11 has a V-shaped opening in its outer end which provides an edge 18 angularly disposed relative to the longitudinal axis of the seal. The other wall 19 of said opening eX-tends parallel to the edge of the head 11'. The width of the opening, measured across its widest part, is slightly greater than the width of tongue 12 so that when it is inserted through slot 14 it may be bent around the edge 18 as shown in Fig. 8. To this end the srt score line s is disposed at such an angle and so spaced from shoulder 15 as to be in alinernent with edge 18. According to the length of tongue 12', it is provided with one or more additional score lines t and u which facilitate wrapping around head 11' one or more times and which will break if the tongue is unwrapped. Instead of forming a V-shaped opening as: shown, the end of head 11 may simply be cut 01T at an angle, omitting the piece 20 which, however, forms a desirable structure around which to wrap the tongue.

Since various modifications may be made in the details of construction above described, they are to be regarded as merely illustrative of the invention, the scope of which is pointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A seal comprising a strap of sheet metal having a transversely slotted head at one end and a tongue adapted to pass through the slot in the head at the other end, :said tongue being narrower than said strap to provide a shoulder adapted to engage said head when said tongue is fully inserted in said slot, said head having -at its end an edge spaced from said slot and disposed slanted with respect to the longitudinal axis of the strap, and said tongue having a score line so located relative to said shoulder as to be in alinement with said edge when the tongue is fully inserted in said slot.

2. A seal according to claim 1 wherein said angularly disposed vedge is one side of a V-shaped opening, the other side of which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Brooks Sept. 8, 1931 

